Paragon Cafe looks to serve a breakfast of champions at OC Mix
It’s said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and judging by the number of Orange County restaurants that offer brunch, diners agree. But chef Dean Isom of Paragon Cafe is interested in making breakfast more than just a Sunday affair.
“We want to lock this down and be Orange County’s fine dining brunch spot,” said Isom.
Isom started Paragon with his friend and business partner Markuz Valdez. The concept began in 2020 as a pop-up inside Shuck Oyster Bar at the OC Mix in Costa Mesa, where the pals both worked at the time. They would serve breakfast in the morning when Shuck was closed and switch over when it was time for dinner.
They weathered the shutdowns during the pandemic, which Valdez said weren’t horrible for them.
“We were able to kind of slowly build, and then as people started trickling in, we were more ready,” said Valdez.
Then, Isom said, things picked up.
“Once we kind of got rolling there, we got a pretty big following,” said Isom. “We got regular customers and we got a lot of good feedback.”
Isom and Valdez decided to look for a permanent space for the pop-up and recently opened at the OC Mix in a corner space of their own across from ARC Food & Libations. The restaurant boasts two outdoor dining patios, a full bar and blue-velvet upholstered seating.
The duo is focused on creating a breakfast experience that is on par with the type of high-end dinner service that can be found around Orange County. To them, that means refining traditional brunch dishes.
“We took classic breakfast items and elevated them,” said Valdez.
Dishes found on most brunch menus can be found on the Paragon menu but with a twist. Their chicken and waffles dish, for example, features a sweet-potato puree, cinnamon-maple compound butter and sweet-and-spicy fried chicken.
“Our steak and eggs is a prime-grade filet mignon,” said Isom. “We are very careful with how we cook it. It has duck fat, potatoes and chimichurri.”
Isom said the difference isn’t only in the recipes.
“It’s the quality of ingredients we use, the technique we use, down to the plating,” said Isom. “We make almost everything on the menu here from the ground up.”
That scratch-made mentality carries over to the bar program too, which Valdez manages.
“All our juices are juiced by us. We make all our own syrups in house,” said Valdez.
The cocktail program goes beyond mimosas, though those are available too with watermelon, yuzu and grapefruit juice in addition to orange juice.
And breakfast is not just served on weekends. Paragon Cafe serves breakfast Tuesday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
There are plans to open for dinner eventually, and both owners are excited about the wine locker program, which will offer special-order wines and spirits for members at a lower rate, to go along with it.
But mostly, Isom said they want breakfast to get the credit it deserves.
“I want people to see perfection as much as we can make it, all the way around,” said Isom.
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